James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Mary Anne Talbot (1778–1808) was an Englishwoman who wore male dress and became a sailor during the Napoleonic wars. Her story was illustrated by the Italian-born British artist named Fortunino Matania (1881-1963).

In 1792 she unwillingly became a mistress of captain Essex Bowen who enlisted her as his foot-boy under the name "John Taylor" for a voyage to Santo Domingo. Matania captures the captain’s imperious dominance and the 14-year-old’s fearful acquiescence to her new identity.

She served as a drummer-boy in the battle for Valenciennes, where captain Bowen was killed. She was wounded and treated the wound herself to avoid revealing herself to the surgeon. She decided to continue working as a male sailor.

On a sojourn to Rhode Island in America, she attracted the attentions of a young woman who fell in love with the eligible young “gentleman.” Matania’s illustration on tone paper shows the moment when the girl openly declares her love. Mary Anne’s expression of consternation, and her blend of male and female qualities, is a difficult thing to express in a drawing, but Matania accomplished it.

Despite a series of injuries received in battle, Talbot continued to wear sailor's clothes. She worked in menial jobs and even tried her luck on stage at Drury Lane but eventually was arrested and taken to debtor’s prison at Newgate.

5 comments:

Reminds me of ‘The Life and Exploits of Anne Bonny’ and ‘The Adventures and Heroism of Mary Read’ from the book: ‘The Pirates’ by Charles Ellms. Or the early life of the Russian Mystic and Theosophist, Maddam Blavotski. -RQ

Matania's splendid work can be seen in Jim Vadeboncoeur's Images magazine, as well as in Heritage Auction archive - in high resolution. Their website is hard to browse and time consuming...it takes patience to arrive at the page you seek (and in most cases you'll miss the image you are looking for, though it's there) but it ultimately pays.